Renee Southard knew her customers were starving, even if they didn’t realize it.

She knew the people visiting her at Nature’s Path for supplements were getting marginally better, but that they lacked the organic nourishment also needed to improve their health.

“My community needed food and there wasn’t any here,” she said.

She moved Nature’s Path, which opened in 1993, from its spot behind Milano Italian Restaurant on New Hope Road to its current location a block or two over in the mid-90s.

She renamed it Organic Marketplace, a health food store that sells organic and local food, natural supplements and herbal and homeopathic remedies. Sprouts Café, the marketplace restaurant that serves dishes made with organic ingredients, opened.

After some lean years, the restaurant cultivated a loyal following. It’s open for breakfast and lunch, with daily specials posted on its Facebook page.

“I saw a need for a restaurant where people who are on gluten-free diets or whet sensitive diets,” she said. “They had no place to eat.”

Southard and her staff will commemorate the marketplace’s 20th anniversary and Earth Day this weekend with daylong festivities at the store. There will be raffles to benefit Keep Gastonia Beautiful and giveaways, arts and crafts for kids, live music, beer and wine tasting and vendor demonstrations.

The Rosemary and Thyme Herb Society will have its yearly plant sale with more than 600 culinary herbs and heirloom plants. The local beekeeper association will bring demo hives to the event. Everyone who attends will receive a free reusable shopping bag.

“It’s going to be a big birthday party and Earth Day celebration all wrapped up in one,” Southard said. “We’re the health resource for the community and have been for 20 years.”

It’s a party with a purpose, though. In addition to encouraging folks to be better stewards of the world we inhabit, the celebration will promote the benefits of an organic diet. If you’re not eating organic products, you may be consuming pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones, Southard said.

“We want people to leave with a better understanding of how they can be a part of the solution,” she said. “People think organic food tastes different… hopefully they walk away with the understanding they can eat alternatively and it’ll be really good and good for them.”

EARTH DAY AND ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Organic Marketplace, 1012 S. New Hope Road, Gastonia, hosts an Earth Day and 20th Anniversary Celebration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The free event will feature food, Earth art, raffles, wine and beer tastings, live music, a plant sale and supplement samples. Those attending will receive a free reusable shopping bag. The market’s Sprouts Café will be open during the event. For more information, visit www.organicmarketplacenc.com or call 704-864-0605.